Electrabel restarted unit 2 of Belgium's Tihange nuclear power plant yesterday. The unit had been offline since March 2014 for investigations into manufacturing flaws in its reactor pressure vessel.

Engie - parent of Belgium's Electrabel - yesterday signed an agreement with the Belgian government that revises the tax contribution paid by the country's nuclear operators. It also allows for a ten-year life extension for units 1 and 2 of the Doel nuclear power plant.

Belgium's Federal Agency for Nuclear Control yesterday announced it had approved the restart of the Doel 3 and Tihange 2 nuclear power plant units. Operator of the plants, Electrabel, said the regulator had concluded that "it is totally safe" to bring the reactors back into operation, following investigations into manufacturing flaws in their pressure vessels.

Two Belgian reactors will be able to operate until 2025 after the country's Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC) ruled that the units could safely operate beyond their original 40-year design life.

Belgium's Constitutional Court has rejected Electrabel's appeal against the legality of the nuclear tax contribution imposed by the government for 2013. The company maintains that the level of tax does not reflect deteriorating market conditions in which it operates.

An agreement in principle has been reached between Electrabel and the Belgian government on the conditions for a ten-year life extension for units 1 and 2 of the Doel nuclear power plant. The tax to be paid by the country's nuclear operators has also been revised.

Electrabel announced today that it now expects its Doel 3 and Tihange 2 nuclear reactors to remain offline until 1 November as the process to potentially restart the units continues. The utility had previously expected the units to restart on 1 July.

Belgium's Tractebel Engineering has signed a contract to be owner's engineer for the planned Pallas research reactor to be built at Petten in the Netherlands. The facility will replace the existing High Flux Reactor that has been in operation since 1961 and take over its role as a major supplier of the world's medical radioisotopes.

An international expert panel recently discussed the results of the latest material tests on the reactor pressure vessels of Electrabel's Doel 3 and Tihange 2 power reactors. The panel will soon issue an opinion on the methodology the utility must use in its safety case for restarting the units.

Electrabel has described as "confiscatory" the tax Belgium seeks to levy on nuclear power plant operators based on new calculations by the country's electricity and gas market regulator.

Areva has delivered a replacement reactor vessel head for unit 3 of Electrabel's Tihange nuclear power plant in Belgium. The company has also been awarded a contract to supply a new vessel head to a US utility.

Additional inspections at Electrabel's Doel 3 and Tihange 2 power reactors have revealed more extensive flaking within their reactor pressure vessels than previously identified, the Belgian regulator has announced.